Nyquist ($950,000 NHL salary) and DeKeyser ($925,000) have nearly identical salaries, which made the move possible, as the Red Wings have had salary cap problems all season.

The Red Wings have skated with 11 forwards the last two games with Daniel Alfredsson and Stephen Weiss both out with groin injuries (neither are ready to return).

Nyquist has 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in 15 games with Grand Rapids this season.

Nyquist, 24, could play on a line with Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen, as Babcock has split Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk in an effort to spread the offense around.

Datsyuk could skate with Todd Bertuzzi and Daniel Cleary.

"We're not finding ways to get goals," coach Mike Babcock said. "We have to have more than two guys (Zetterberg, Datsyuk) going."

The Wings’ winless streak reached seven games with Tuesday night’s 2-0 loss at home to Nashville.

Last season with the Red Wings Nyquist had three goals and three assists in 22 games during the regular season, and provided a spark in the playoffs with two goals and three assists in 14 postseason games.

Once Nyquist plays two more NHL games he cannot be sent back down to Grand Rapids without being exposed to waivers, so he'll remain on the roster and the team will be forced to make another personnel move down the road.

The Red Wings will worry about that later, since DeKeyser will be out a minimum of 10 games.

General manager Ken Holland said Wednesday the team has placed DeKeyser on the long-term-injured list, meaning the young defenseman will miss at least 10 games and 24 days. DeKeyser could miss about a month.

"What are you going to do?" Babcock said. "People get hurt. That's hockey. The more depth you have, the less you notice it."